English Chinese (Simplified) Japanese German French Italian Spanish Korean

 

Genuine Vintage Strat pickups sound and feel great ... except for the bridge being too sharp and spikey and impossible to balance volume-wise with the neck and middle .  Ohhh and then of course there is the dreaded hum .... aaand that horrible string warble .... accompanied by the clutter of strings crashing into frets.  Fender pickups were never perfected, Leo found something that worked OK for the 1950's and it was cheap and easy to manufacture, so, he and his successors stuck with it until 1996 when Fender got serious about ridding their pickups of 60Hz mains hum.  The difficulty Fender face is that Chris Kinman owns the most, and the best high-value patents for hum cancelling and tone enhancing technology.

Our Impersonator E56 (enhanced 56) pickup is crisp, snappy, pristine, the real deal if authentic 50's Strat sound with brilliant highs is what you want ... minus the mains HUM .... as well as the nasty string warble and also the clutter of buzzing strings-into-fret crash thanks to our special lo strength Alnico magnets. The sounds are airy and with the top end glassiness that vintage enthusiasts crave and has a great instrumental twang all the way down to the open E-6th string.

Our unique Impersonator MV is the perfect vintage bridge pickup because it's softer attack eliminates the razor sharp trebles that vintage pickups are well known for and the midrange is rich in piano-mid-tones for a fantastic twang.  As well as producing higher output so it balances with the other two, it's trebles are outstanding and airy, the perfectly focused twang is like nothing you ever heard before, and the lows .... there's no other word for it, just PERFECT.

All 3 pickups also sustain extremely well and all 5 positions have Zero-Hum (no crude RWRP middle pickup needed here).  And of course positions 2 and 4 are absolute Knopfler-esque.

This Perfect Vintage set is living testimony to our claim that Kinman Gen-2 and Gen-3 Strat pickups are the new Gold Standard for Stratocaster pickups and it is also available in our Magnum Opus format.

 

Kinman is the King of Noiseless and the King of perfect 50's Stratocaster sound.

 

Signal chain requirements for best tone and dynamic performance:   Like any pickup it's not a bad idea to use a low capacitance cable to get the incredible performance of these pickups and hear all the nuances you and your guitar can muster.  Learn why here Any old cable won't do.

 

Some people will call these noiseless Stratocaster pickups but Kinman prefers to describe them correctly as Zero-Hum Stratocaster pickups.  That's because there are 2 types of noise, Hum which is cancelled in the pickup and Buzz which can only be minimized by shielding the wiring cavities (refer to >Technical >Perfect Guitar >Shielding for newer guitars
 

*Stratocaster and Strat* are a Trade Marks of Fender Musical Instrument Corp.  Kinman is not connected to Fender.

** Alnico-K is a unique proprietary rod magnet developed by Kinman in 1985.  It has 40% less string pull than Alnico-5 so sustain is longer and there is much less clatter from string crash and no Strat-itis string warble.

 

Covers

  • Standard Kinman Strat cover (without height extender bushings included). 
  • Available in White, Parchment, Black, Aged White.
  • With or without Kinman logo.
  • White cover can be tinted with food stains such as Coffee and Tea.  How to age Kinman Strat covers
  • Generic covers will not fit Kinman Strat pickups.  We sell replacement covers in five colors De-glossed Authentic '62 relic, White, Parchment, Ivory and Black.

Dimensions

Cavity depth requirements

  • 21mm preferred but 16mm is acceptable.

Pot & Capacitor values

  • Best with 250k Ohm (measured minimum) volume pot.  Less punch and more bright with 500k.
  • Tone pot is usually the same value as the volume but for a little more top end brightness can be 500k, 1meg or preferably a No-Load.
  • Stock pots can actually measure as low as 175k.  Pots in our Goodbye-Soldering Harness are guaranteed to measure no less that 250k.
  • Normal tone cap value of 0.022uF, 63 ~ 100 volt Polyester (same as Orange Drop).  Smaller uF value lessen the severity of Treble cut, higher values increase it.
  • The voltage rating of Caps is not important but 63 ~ 100 volt have thicker lead wires that result in a neater finish.

Magnet spreads we normally ship (so ensures magnets align with the strings in each position)

  • Neck: Narrow 49.5mm
  • Middle: Intermediate 51mm
  • Bridge: Standard 52.5mm
  • Option to specify your optimal magnet spreads of sets and singles in our 'After-Order Supplementary Questions' email we send you.

Magnet Staggers

  • Normal improved Stagger to suit 7" ~ 14 inch uniform radius fretboards including USA Custom Guitar Compound 7-1/4" ~ 9-1/2
  • Flat Stagger 14" ~ 20" for specific compound radius fretboards (Warmoth 10 ~ 16 inch and Post 2010 Fender Deluxe 9 ~ 14")
  • Option to choose your magnet stagger for sets and singles in our 'After-Payment Supplementary Questions' email we send you.

Connection means available

  • Bare wires for soldering.
  • Kinman connectors for plugging into any Kinman Goodbye-Soldering Harness.

Hook-up cable

  • 2 conductor shielded is standard.
  • Middle pickups when supplied with a K9, TK4 or TK9 harness have 3 conductor shielded.
  • 3 conductor by request with Order.
  • Custom lengths by request with Order.

Output Polarity: 

  • in-phase with all other Kinman pickups
  • in-phase with Gibson and Copy humbuckers
  • Phase reversible (refer Install Guide) which means can have same output polarity as Fender

Mounting hardware included

  • 2 Pan head mounting screws.
  • 2 Silicon Rubber tube springs.

We highly recommend consulting the Install Guide in the Technical section even if you think you know it all.  Kinmans' require some specialized knowledge and sometimes there is updated info.  There is also a handy wiring diagram available.

We also highly recommend consulting the Adjust & Set-up page in the Technical section so you get the best out of your Kinman pickups.

 

Steven Whitchurch

UNITED KINGDOM 10-Jul-2020

The Impersonators have knocked it out the park and sound better than my original 62s and 97% of my mint original 57s.  These pickups have the air and the top end sparkle that I crave, and with no hum.  That's a stunning achievement given the laws of physics and the fact that other brands, even the big ones like Duncan, DiMarzio and Fender themselves, have not been able to match these Kinmans.

Michael Wingate

UNITED STATES 01-Jan-1970

First off let me say the set of E56 pickups I received are absolutely phenomenal. They put my Suhr V60s to shame. I also gotta say the authentic Knopfler quack is so astounding with these E56. Anyway thanks, can't say enough about how blown away I am.

I am also very satisfied with the K9 harness and it's build quality and convenience.

Terry Perry

25-Sep-2019

Thank you for the SRV set (3x Impersonator E56). This set has a very unique sound. Just the right amount of sparkle, thwack, upper mids, and not too much low end. All string response including the plain are even and balanced. They are bright and vintage at the same time. I don't believe it's the guitar, it's the unique sound of the pickups. The SRV set is exactly the sound in my head for this particular guitar. It was what I call a wild-ass educated guess. They are unique to my ear in that they have the things I like in a vintage tone with out the things I don't care for like the clanky crashing sound many true 52 / 54 vintage Fender pick ups have.

Fabien MARATHEE

Belgium 16-May-2016

Impersonator A56 & Gilmour set: thank you for transforming a good guitar into a great, expressive polyvalent quiet and inspiring instrument. Long live Kinman!

Beau Cottle

30-May-2016

I've had time to put these pickups through their paces and they are fantastic! Thank you so much Joe for your help.

Martin Stewart

USA 25-Jan-2017

As I said, when we played the show a couple of weeks ago it was our first in a long time (18 months) due to personnel changes and my drummer breaking a finger. However, no one had heard the new guitar. The reaction I received from people was pretty amazing, players and general public alike. The dynamics from the clean tones are huge, very bell like with a wonderful natural sustain, a recording doesn't quite capture it in all honesty. The lead sounds just soar. For me the balance between the pickups is very good, no ice pick to my ears, sweet soaring lead...seriously my tone really is great.

Tarek Makky

Flywheel, USA 25-Jan-2017

This is a review in regards to the new Impersonator A56 set for strat. I have a John Mayer signature strat that I replaced the pickups in with Lollar Blackfaces and loved the upgraded sound. Then I decided to try out the A56 pickups as I was sick of noise problems in old buildings. These A56 are beefier, spankier, more even, and more dynamic than the Fender Big Dippers or the Blackfaces I had tried. Its been said before but I’ll say it again, these pickups are not only SILENT compared to my other single coils, let alone my humbuckers, but they SOUND better than the other single coils, by far. I would still install these pickups even if they weren’t noiseless. That’s how good they are. I have a full set in a guitar and have just ordered two more for a fat strat. Perfect combination of technology, vintage sound, and usability. Well done Kinman and you have earned a customer for life.

John Schloz

Texas, USA 25-Jan-2017

Ok guys, I admit it...I was a little nervous about the Clapton set. I've had the Woodstock set for a couple of years and they're soooo good I pretty much stopped playing my other guitars. Would the A56's be as good?... Hellyeah!!!!! I'm just blown away!! Just wanted you to know these are THE BEST pickups ever. I've been playing for 35 years and always been a humbucker man. Now, I'm looking to Kinman-ize a Jaguar, a couple of Tele's and a Danelectro. Thanks for the OUTSTANDING pickups. I am singing the praises of Kinman to all my guitar buds here in Texas. Now let's see, Broadcaster set for the two teles, jaguar dano ...man, my wife is going to kill me.

Paul Rossiter

01-Aug-2018

(Technical assistant to Hank Marvin and creator of the TVS Echo unit)
I put a set of Impersonator 54 and a set of Impersonator E56 into my 2004 American Strat and a Mexican Strat and they sounded great in both. I did a lot of detailed comparisons with Fender CS54's (through my Vox AC15) with the Impersonator 54's and the original Shadows recordings and am completely blown away! You have certainly achieved your goal of nailing that early tone in a noiseless pickup. The 56's have that bite of the early sound without any of the harshness that sometimes is evident with the Fender CS54's, particularly in the bridge position. In comparison the Impersonator 54's are just a very slight touch more mellow (which Hank likes) but still full of life and air. Needless to say they are both perfectly balanced and there is no hum or noise. These pickups completely transformed the Mex Strat with it's original horrible bright, tinny sound of the original Mexican pickups. Gary Taylor and I spent the afternoon recording Blue Star with the 54's and they absolutely nailed the sound of the original. Stunning stuff! Both the Impersonator 54 and the Impersonator E56 pickups are superb and without hum, an incredible achievement! I take my hat off to you.